Are You Looking for a Secret Weapon to Make Your Presentations Successful?

Audience interaction is more than asking questions or inviting a show of hands.

It is about engagement, connection, and curiosity. In my decades as a keynote speaker and executive speech coach, I have learned that when you interact with your audience, they feel seen, heard, and valued. They do not sit back passively; they lean in.

When we train and work with audiences of executives, engineers, or ambitious professionals, the moment our audience participates, the experience becomes theirs, not ours.

A few simple techniques work wonders:

Ask a rhetorical question that makes them think.

Refer to what someone said earlier.

Ask them for their examples that also reinforce our points of wisdom.

Acknowledge their challenges and link our content to their world.

Interaction transforms a presentation from a one-way delivery into a two-way connection.

Your audience will not remember everything you say. They will remember how we excited them with new ideas and what they thought as they interacted.

Perhaps like me, you include “min-coaching” or “hot seats.” Without exception, one of the highlights of my presentation skills sessions is the “Fripp Razor-Focused Mini-coaching” portions.

For example, after I give them ideas on their opening options, I ask willing participants to deliver their best openings. When I give my suggestions, the audience gasps!

Then I ask the audience, “Do you consider this better?”

“What were the differences?”

“Can you use this technique in your speeches?”

Master the art of interaction to build a stronger relationship in every conversation. I hope these suggestions are helpful.

Want to learn how to do this naturally and confidently?

My clients rave that FrippVT Powerful, Persuasive Presentations is the fastest way to improve your impact and drive more sales.

Discover how to make your message unforgettable with FrippVT  Powerful, Persuasive Presentations online learning. Book a personal tour.

 

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Storytelling: Your Secret Weapon in Recruitment

Want to Attract Top Talent? Tell Better Stories

Hiring the right people is difficult—it’s expensive when you get it wrong. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a bad hire can cost up to 30% of that employee’s annual salary. That doesn’t include the emotional cost to your team or the loss of momentum.

Fripp helps you drive sales with stories.

All my clients tell me, “We’re doing our best to recruit the top 10% of available talent.”

While presenting at my 27th consecutive PayrollOrg Congress, I sat in the front row of a session that reinforced what I already teach—and gave me a new way to say it.

It was led by Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment Group, a prominent voice in HR and payroll recruitment. Nick is known for his podcast, thought leadership, and a standout idea: Storytelling isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must-have in recruitment.

Nick emphasized that compelling storytelling is not just the job of HR. Everyone involved in recruitment, from hiring managers to executives to happy associates, plays a role in shaping the story that top candidates will either want to join or ignore.

As Nick said, “If you only advertise job tasks or reuse the same bland job description year after year, don’t expect extraordinary people to respond.”

Here’s the difference one sentence can make:

“Our last Payroll Manager is now leading international payroll for our entire enterprise.” That’s a story. That inspires ambition. That gets results.

As a presentation skills expert, I’ve long taught that storytelling builds connection, drives engagement, and accelerates buy-in. When you sell a service, present a vision, or recruit talent, the right story can make your message irresistible.

When I coach companies on their internal presentations, I often suggest how to welcome new hires with memorable language:

“Congratulations on accepting what could well be your best job ever.”

“I will never forget my first day here and what has kept me here for 15 years.”

“In case you’re unfamiliar with some of our challenges, triumphs, and turning points…”

“Here’s what you can look forward to…” (Create positive expectations.)

“Let’s meet a few of the people who make this a great place to work…” (Bring them to life with stories.)

The real question isn’t “Are you hiring?”

Are you recruiting in a way that makes people feel like they’re stepping into a story worth telling?

Nick Day would agree: “You’ll never be able to tell a great company story unless you use storytelling to recruit the right characters to help shape it.”

Need help telling your story? Let’s talk.

“Patricia, you significantly impact Congress through all you do. You speak at Congress and are responsible for many industry expert presentations enjoyed throughout the week.”

Dan Maddux, Executive Director 

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Mentors and Coaches Shorten Your Learning Curve and Get You Results Faster

Mentors and Coaches Shorten Your Learning Curve and Get You Results Faster

There are two primary ways to learn: on your own or from learned others. In my experience, the second option accelerates success and deepens insight.

When I was a young hairstylist in England, my first mentors were senior stylists, coworkers, and generous bosses who modelled the professional excellence I aspired to. Later, as an emerging speaker, I sought out seasoned presenters who generously shared their hard-earned wisdom. I eventually invested in a range of coaches—each from different disciplines—because I understood one key principle: you shorten your learning curve by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Now, as a presentation coach to executives, engineers, and sales professionals, my mission is clear: help them communicate with clarity, confidence, and impact… faster than they could on their own.

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 What Women Must Know to Command the Stage Without Distractions

When professional women step onto the stage to present, we want to look confident, competent, and polished.

Of course, we want to look good; however, never at the expense of our message. Every choice we make either reinforces our message or distracts from it.

Your audience should be captivated by your words, more than your wardrobe.

That means:

Avoid jangly earrings that dance with every head movement; they will hypnotize and mesmerize your audience in all the wrong ways.

Bracelets that jingle when you gesture? Leave them off. They pull focus from your words.

Open-toed shoes or backless footwear might be perfect for a party, not a presentation. You don’t want your flashy toenails or the sound of flip-flop shoes to distract the audience by looking at your feet, not your face.

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Blank Page to Standing Ovation: The Fripp Formula for Powerful Presentations

Your Speech Structure Frees You to Be Creative

As you prepare your upcoming presentations, your content is everything you want to say. Your structure helps you organize your brilliant ideas so they land with clarity and impact. Think of it like this: Your content is the flesh over your structure, which is the skeleton. One brings the shape, the other brings the power.

If you’re like most speakers, your creative process is wonderfully messy. That’s exactly as it should be—creativity is messy. However, your audience deserves more than a flood of ideas. They need a clear path, a focused message, and a speaker who sounds confident and in control. That’s where structure makes all the difference.

The Fripp Structure process helps you shape your ideas into a message that’s organized, persuasive, and unforgettable. It saves you time, reduces stress, and makes you look polished and professional, no matter your topic, audience, or speaking experience.

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Want to Learn the Public Speaking Not So Basic Basics from an Expert?

For decades, I have enjoyed a successful career as a keynote speaker and speech coach for executives, sales teams and other professional speakers. My social media posts, articles, books and online learning platform Fripp Virtual Training FrippVT are designed to help ambitious professionals like you gain a competitive edge.

Here you will learn the Not-So-Basic Basics.

It never ceases to amaze me that intelligent, well-educated, and ambitious professionals often overlook developing the number-one skill that is guaranteed to put them ahead of the crowd.

Namely, developing the ability to stand up and speak eloquently in public, or at least stagger to their feet and say anything at all.

What is it about public speaking that terrifies so many? Most likely, it’s because we don’t want to look, feel, or sound stupid in front of others.

As a speech coach, when I first meet my clients, I often hear, ‘I am a terrible public speaker.’

To which I reply, “No. You are an untrained speaker.” My second comment is, “Stop telling yourself what you do not want. This is reinforcing what we are going to change.”

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Speak About What You Know

How Your Experience Becomes Your Expertise

One of the most common questions I’m asked is,

“Fripp, I love to speak… but what can I talk about?”

My answer? Speak about what you know.

That’s how I started my speaking career—with a program titled “How to Get, Keep, and Deserve Your Clients.” It was based entirely on what I had done and succeeded at in my hairstyling business.

You’re Already an Expert—In Your Own Experience

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Robert Fripp says “Never be afraid to let go of a good thing”

My brother, the legendary guitarist Robert Fripp, wisely says, “Never be afraid to let go of a good thing.”

Celebrating GGBC: A Gem of San Francisco History

Since its founding in 1946, the Golden Gate Breakfast Club (GGBC) has been a vibrant part of San Francisco’s history. It was born post-World War II, when communities were eager to rebuild, reconnect, and find purpose. Over the decades, GGBC became a unique space for camaraderie, creativity, and fellowship.

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Your First Thirty Seconds: Arouse Interest in Your Subject

Imagine you have just thirty seconds to transform a room of strangers into a captivated audience that will hold on to your every word.

This is your moment to make a powerful first impression in any presentation—whether it’s a high-stakes sales presentation to win a training contract, an educational seminar, or a keynote speech to your ideal audience.

I believe your presentation’s opening needs to arouse interest in your subject.

At the beginning of a speech, presentation, seminar, client meeting, report to senior management, sales presentation, or any presentation you deliver, you need to arouse interest in the subject. After all, we stand in the rain to watch a movie. Would you stand in the rain to listen to your presentation?  You have thirty seconds to command the attention of your audience immediately. Please don’t waste it.

Specific speech openings captivate, mystify, and create an emotional bond that keeps an audience riveted to the speaker’s words. 

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Your Actions Speak Loudly

Recently, I received a call from a 90-year-old woman who said, “I bought Chicken Soup for the Soul when it first came out. My children and grandchildren still read it. I wanted you to know that three generations like your story.” Like many of the stories that Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield collected from their friends, these were profound in their simplicity.

My short, simple story was told to me decades ago while jogging with my friend Bobby Lewis in Oklahoma City. I would list it under Honesty, Ethics, and Parenting.

My friend and proud father, Bobby Lewis, took his two little boys to play miniature golf. He asked the attendant, “How much is it to get in?” He replied, “It’s three dollars for you and any kid over six. They get in free if they’re six or younger.”

Bobby said, “Well, Mikey’s three and Jimmy’s seven, so I owe you $6.00.” The attendant looked surprised. “Hey, mister, do you like throwing your money away? You could have told me the big one was only six and saved three bucks. I wouldn’t have known the difference.”

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